SBA Venice Business Recovery Center to Close (Two other Plaquemines Parish centers remain open in Port Sulphur, Belle Chasse)

SACRAMENTO – Michael Ricks, District Director of the U.S. Small Business Administration’s (SBA) Louisiana District Office, today announced that the harbormaster’s facility currently housing the agency’s Business Recovery Center (BRC) in Venice is no longer available and will close Friday, July 16. Until this Friday SBA will continue to provide one-on-one service to victims of the Deepwater BP Oil Spill at the Venice location. The center is located at the Venice Boat Harbor Office on Tiger Pass Road and is open from 9 am to 6 pm.

“SBA opened the center on May 10 to meet with business owners who suffered economic losses as a result of the BP oil spill that began on April 20. Our customer service representatives have personally met with nearly 250 business owners in the Venice community to provide information about SBA’s disaster assistance programs,” said Ricks.

“SBA’s BRCs in Port Sulphur and Belle Chasse will remain open,” Ricks confirmed. “We continue to see the majority of our Plaquemines Parish clients in these two centers in the northern part of the parish.”

The Belle Chasse BRC is located at the Seedco Financial Southeast Louisiana Fisheries Assistance Center, 212 Avenue G (near Belle Chasse Ferry). The Port Sulphur BRC is located at St. Patrick’s Church, Family Life Center, 28698 Highway 23. Both centers are open Mondays through Fridays from 9 am to 5 pm. Beginning on May 10, SBA opened 12 BRCs in Louisiana to help provide assistance to small business owners impacted by the Deepwater BP oil spill.

“Since May 5, 34 parishes have been included in declarations for disaster assistance by SBA Administrator Karen Mills. Since that time, SBA has met with 4,355 business owners throughout the state and has approved more than $6.8 million in low interest loans to Louisiana businesses,” Ricks said.

Mills’ declaration made SBA’s Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDLs) available to small businesses. These are working capital loans up to $2 million at an interest rate of 4 percent with terms that can go up to 30 years. No payment is due for one year.

The loans may be used by small businesses to pay fixed debts, payroll, accounts payable and other bills that can’t be paid because of the disaster’s impact. These loans can provide vital economic assistance to businesses experiencing a temporary loss of revenue and/or increased costs as a result of the BP oil spill and the drilling moratorium.

SBA strongly encourages businesses to also file claims with BP. These SBA disaster loans may help meet urgent financial needs until claims with BP are settled. Any BP claim settlements may be used to repay these SBA loans.

SBA customer service representatives and Louisiana Small Business Development Center (LSBDC) counselors will continue to be available at 11 Business Recovery Centers (BRCs) in Louisiana to meet one-on-one with owners of small businesses that have been affected financially by the disaster, answer questions about SBA’s economic injury disaster loan program, issue loan applications, explain the application process, help each business owner complete their application and close their approved loans

Counselors from LSBDC are also available at each center to provide post-disaster counseling on how to best overcome the effects of the disaster, and a variety of management, financial and marketing assistance, including how to adapt a business model to post-disaster changes in markets, supplier relationships, employee sources and other key factors. All of these counseling services are free.

The locations, days and times of operations of the BRCs are as follows. No appointment is necessary to meet with any representative.

In addition, small businesses in parishes included in the declaration that are currently repaying an existing SBA disaster loan may request a deferment. For information on seeking a deferment, small business owners may visit one of the Business Recovery Centers or contact SBA’s Customer Service Center at (800) 659-2955.

SBA also is encouraging private lenders to consider deferment relief on a case-by-case basis for small businesses with SBA-guaranteed 7(a) or 504 loans. Small businesses should contact their lender to request deferment consideration.

Business owners who are unable to visit a center may obtain loan information and application forms by calling SBA’s Customer Service Center at (800) 659-2955, or (800) 877-8339 for the hearing impaired, e-mailing disastercustomerservice@sba.gov, or by using SBA’s Web site at www.sba.gov/services/ disasterassistance. They may also apply online using the Electronic Loan Application (ELA) via SBA’s secure Web site at https://disasterloan.sba.gov/ela.